Nautical History


In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire
The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty
In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette
Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U. S. Navy
Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny
Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook
The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
Hank Bracker
Throughout the year we worked at maintaining and painting the vessels secured at the Academy waterfront. The school had lifeboats, running boats, sailboats, a wooden-hulled “Submarine Chaser” and the “Training Ship.” During the years that I was at the Academy, most of these ships and boats, being holdovers from World War II, were hardly new. They were in constant need of maintenance and repair, which, of course, fell to us midshipmen. Most of the other academies had the funding to hire a permane ...more
Captain Hank Bracker, "Salty & Saucy Maine"

Hank Bracker
The City of Boston allowed us to dock at the dilapidated Mystic Wharves, right next to where the ships from the Havana Line used to tie up. Without knowing it, we were witnessing the end of an era. Steamship companies that connected Cuba with the United States were dwindling, as commercial aviation came into its own. The Havana Line was already gone, and the New York & Cuba Mail Steamship Company, commonly called the Ward Line, was a shipping company that operated from 1841 until 1954 and ran “W ...more
Captain Hank Bracker, "Salty & Saucy Maine"

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